Dining Car on the Cuban Special (editor's title)

Builder's view showing the interior of the dining car on the Cuban Special. The Cuban Special was a luxurious site-seeing train that made leisurely one-week trips through Cuba during the first four months of 1925. The Pullman Company operated the train in conjunction with the United Railways of Havana and the Cuba Railroad. The all-Pullman train departed Havana on Mondays following the arrival of a steamship from Key West, Florida. It made a 535-mile trip across the island to Santiago, returning to Havana later in the week. The train consisted of six cars: a kitchen car, dining room car (pictured), and four observation-sleeping cars. All except the kitchen car were modified observation cars that featured open platforms. The dining car came from the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, where it had served on the Merchants Limited as the Port Chester observation-parlor car. The central tables with leather chairs, silk drapes, and black and white floor tiling provided a stately setting for dining in Cuba. Famous passengers included former Congressman and then publisher of the Oakland Tribune, Joseph R. Knowland. Pullman touted the train as a way to see and enjoy Cuba "with the minimum of effort and the maximum of comfort."